Initium Novum
by Squeeb100
Summary: (Translated from Latin: A Second Chance). It is Kid's decision as the newly appointed Shinigami to remove Crona from the moon, much to the excitement of the rest of his comrades. However, this decision brings about a few more and a few greater issues than anyone initially expects. Prompt from Ynot7.
1. Chapter 1

**WELL HELLO THERE.**

 **This is a story prompt from Ynot7 (check his stuff out, he's pretty amazing :D). I was planning a oneshot, but there were just too many ideas jangling around in my head (heh...jangling) and I had to make it longer. THIS IS JUST A FIRST CHAPTER, IT IS VERY SHORT AND KIND OF LAME. I HAVE SOME PLANS. PLEASE DO NOT FRET. LET US HOPE THAT I DO NOT ABORT THIS STORY. OF COURSE, YOU CAN ALWAYS HELP THIS NOBLE CAUSE BY REVIEWING AND FOLLOWING. YOUR DONATION WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE.**

 **So, yeah. I'm hoping to write some longer chapters later, so don't fear (the reaper XD). This is just to kickstart the whole thing.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater. But it is actually probably blatantly by this point that I am not, in fact, Atsushi Ohkubo.**

 **So, without further ado...**

* * *

"Shinigami-sama?" Maka poked her head around the corner of the entrance to the Death Room. She had assumed that since it had been occupied by the new Shinigami, it would be more...symmetrical, but it was virtually unchanged. Cartoonish clouds still floated across the indoor sky, and crosses of varying sizes leaning precariously to one side or the other were still stuck into the ground randomly. The new Shinigami stood in front of his mirror, back turned to Maka. No one but the two were present.

Hearing the voice, Kid turned around, smiling almost indiscernibly at Maka. He beckoned for her to come closer, and she did so, cautiously. She stepped up onto the platform and stood at eye level with the boy. She felt strangely uncomfortable around him since he had become the Shinigami. He was on a different level now, and she felt like she knew him less well than she had when he was just Death the Kid, the symmetry obsessed, self-proclaimed academy student, adorable and childlike one moment, serious and businesslike the next.

"Maka," the boy said her name as if it was a statement of great importance.

Maka bowed deeply to the boy. "At your service, Shini-" she trailed off at the feeling of the boy's hand on her shoulder. She straightened up slowly and noted the serious expression in his eyes.

"Maka, just call me Kid," the Shinigami asked of her in a tone that sounded almost _pleading._ "Please."

A miniscule smile graced the girl's lips. "Okay, Kid." Her gaze held his for a few moments before she collapsed into him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Kid paused, startled by the sudden physical contact, but slowly relaxed into the hug, smiling wider than he had in days.

"Thank you, Maka," he whispered.

"No, I should be the one thanking you, Kid. I...I-" Maka broke off and squeezed him.

"Are you crying?" Kid asked, worried. He felt Maka nod against his shoulder. "Why?"

"I'm so thankful...for your decision, Kid. I was worried that we would just leave him there...I was so worried, but I didn't want to say anything. I was afraid that everyone would think I was crazy."

"Some people do," Kid informed her.

"I don't give a damn what they think. I'm just happy that I'll get to see Crona again."

Kid took a deep breath, backing out of the hug. "Now, Maka, we don't-"

The Shimigami was interrupted by a loud whoop from the other end of the room as Black*Star bounded in, Tsubaki in close pursuit. "Hey, guys, you ready? We're goin' to the moon!"

Maka wiped her eyes quickly, composing herself, and turned to the blue-haired meister. "Yeah, whenever Soul decides to show up."

"And Liz and Patty," Kid added. "Where are they all?"

As if in answer to his question, Kid hardly finished speaking before Soul, Liz, and Patty all miraculously entered the room together.

"And where have you three been?" the Shinigami inquired, tapping his foot impatiently, his teenage attitude emerging from behind his businesslike facade. "We've been waiting."

Soul ascended the steps of the platform first, jerking his thumb back at the two sisters. "I got roped into housecleaning," he grumbled.

"Whose house?" Kid began, sounding slightly panicked. "Whose house did you-"

"We made Crona's room all pretty," Patty interrupted, bouncing up toward her meister. "An' I drawed him a picture. It's on the wall," she said proudly.

"Guys, we-" Kid started anew, only to be cut off again, this time by the older Thompson.

"Don't worry, Kid. It's symmetrical. We just thought it might be nice to come home to an actual room, not some cell in the basement. It's a symmetrical room, though," Liz repeated, misinterpreting the expression on her meister's face.

Kid sighed. Maybe it was best not to say anything. Everyone seemed surprisingly excited to see Crona again. Mentioning anything now would just dampen their spirits, and the young Shinigami couldn't stand to do that.

"What are we waiting for?" Black*Star jumped into the conversation again. "Let's go kick some ass!"

"Remember the plan, Star," Tsubaki reminded her meister timidly.

"Yeah, yeah, I remember," the war god crossed his arms and pouted. "I just wanted to kill some stuff."

"If all goes according to plan," Kid said, "there won't be a fight. It will be simple." His comrades (with the exception of Black*Star) nodded solemnly. "Alright. Go load up, I guess," the Shinigami ordered halfheartedly. The group obeyed without question. Maka, who had been strangely silent throughout the entire conversation, hung back.

"Do you want to talk?" Kid asked, placing a hand on his worried friend's shoulder.

"You were trying to say something that whole time," Maka looked at her boots. "And I think I know what it was."

Kid placed a hand under Maka's chin and tilted it up. She blinked when she found their gazes connected.

"Maka, even if we do try, there's no guarantee that we can save Crona. I don't understand the mechanics of these things, and...ugh. This would have been so much easier with Dad. I just don't know what to do. And even if we do succeed...Maka, what if he's still dangerous? What if I'm wrong? Then what do we do?" Kid looked away.

This time it was Maka's turn to grab her friend's gaze. "Kid, I trust Crona. I know you didn't see him, just before..." she paused, "...but...I promise he means well. He's fine now. And if something comes up, we can...deal with it."

Kid smirked at her reference. "I'm sure we can."

There was a moment of silence before Maka looked away. "But...does he want this?" she asked in a tone that was barely a whisper. "Does he want us to do this?"

"We could still call it off," Kid reminded her.

"No. I don't...no. I want to do this. I want to see it through. I told Crona that I would come back for him, and I'm going to hold true to my word. I'm going to save him. No matter," she continued when Kid opened his mouth to speak, "what obstacles we're going to have to face. I'll save him in any way we can, even if it _does_ mean that..." she trailed off.

"Hey slowpokes, what's taking so long?" Soul called from the Demon Airship.

"Nothing," Maka replied, masking her worry with ease. Kid looked on in awe. "We're just talking!" She turned back to Kid. "Let's do this. For Crona."

The Shinigami smiled at her softly. "For Crona," he agreed.

* * *

 **I AGREE, THAT WAS SHORT. ES TUT MIR LEID. GOMEN. Sorry...**

 **Tell me what you think!**

 **See you next chapter,**

 **-Squeeb100**


	2. Chapter 2

**EDIT 6/7/15: I FIXED SOME STUFF THAT WAS HAVING QUESTIONS ASKED. ANYTHING THAT WASN'T FIXED WILL BE EXPLAINED LATER. Thanks so much for the feedback to anyone who gave any.**

 **SO, yep. Here's chapter two. I've got a sort of plot here, but not really, so I'm totally open to ideas if more than three people actually like this. I really enjoy writing it, but I feel like my writing style gets a bit weird/repetitive in places. So I'll work on that one. I've got one chapter written ahead of time, so that's fun, and...yeah.**

 **I'm not really sure if updating regularly is going to go so great. I'm super busy these first few weeks of summer, with volunteer work (Vacation Bible School, yaaayyy), driver's ed (I'm taking that so late XD), 4-H (IMMA WEAVE A BEANIE YASS), horses (I love it, but shows are exhausting and require so much preparation), babysitting (yay, children), and then a vacation for like three weeks. So Imma try, but it may not happen every Friday like I want it to right now, but we'll see. I'll try and write some stuff ahead of time so I can update from my phone while I'm out of town. :)**

 **All that aside, to the four-ish people who enjoyed the first 700 words of this, here's some more *throws fanfiction at people.* To new people, I fling this in your general direction as well in the hopes that you will enjoy it. Have fun. Yay.**

 **I DON'T OWN SOUL EATER. I DON'T KNOW WHO WOULD THINK I DID.**

 **Please review, as well. I'm sure I missed some things here, whether it be canon, characterization, or grammar/punctuation. I literally read through once, and all I caught was the pieces of my writing that always sound really awkward but I can't fix.**

 **I'LL SHUT UP NOW I PROMISE. I'M SORRY. SHHHH.**

* * *

Maka never ceased to be amazed by how far the moon actually was from earth – she looked up at it every night and felt that it was close enough for her to jump up and brush her fingers against; in reality, however, it took several hours to reach the moon from Shibusen. Kid was piloting the Airship, so he was kept occupied, but the others were forced to find suitable uses for their spare time. Patty was playing cards with Black*Star, Soul, and Liz, and the incessant cries of "Patty cheated" and "Black*Star, cut it out!" echoed around the hull of the ship. Tsubaki had earbuds in to drown out the noise, and was curled up an a cushioned bench that stretched around the side of the ship, reading. Maka sat next to her, chin balanced on her hands, staring out the window at the miniscule world behind them.

Tsubaki looked up from her book and turned to Maka. "Are you okay?" she asked, popping out one of her earbuds. Maka, jolted out of her trance, snapped her gaze to the tall girl.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry."

"It's okay," Tsubaki reassured her friend. "You've just been in the same position for about an hour at this point, and I was wondering if you were alright."

"Yeah, I'm good," Maka replied, her focus returning to the navy blue sky. The light pinpricks of stars were visible in the distance, and, in the foreground, the moon. "I'm fine," she repeated.

"Are you nervous?" Tsubaki persisted. Maka sighed, wishing her friend would just look back at her book. Tsubaki stared at her expectantly, however.

"I guess," Maka returned, slumping down to rest her chin on the sill of the window. "I'm just a little bit scared. I don't know if this will work, or what's going to happen after this...I hate uncertainty. I hate not being sure of myself."

"It'll be fine, Maka," Tsubaki said gently, moving closer and gently embracing her friend. "We're going to be okay."

"Yeah."

"Hey, Patty! I saw that!" both girls snapped their heads around to witness the scene unfolding at the card table. Black*Star had sent his chair to the ground with a crash as he stood up, indignant.

"What?" Patty looked up and batted her lashes innocently. "I was just checking your cards."

"Patty, that's cheating," Liz reprimanded her sister gently. "Let's not cheat in card games." She took her sister's clump of cards and shuffled them against the table. After straightening them, she fanned them out and handed them to Patty, who very quickly managed to land them in a state of disarray once again. Liz sighed. "Kid would be ashamed of you, girl." Patty giggled.

"It's not like you haven't cheated either, Black*Star," Soul chimed in, leaning back with his feet crossed on the table.

"But I haven't cheated in this game – it's impossible! And this girl still manages to do it!"

"Black*Star, it's possible to cheat in Hearts," Liz said.

"Wait, Hearts? What game are we playing?" Black*Star looked frantically at his friends.

"What game are _you_ playing?" There was another crash as Soul burst out laughing and fell backwards. Maka stifled a giggle. Black*Star pursed his lips and crossed his arms, huffing in frustration. Sighing, Tsubaki stood and made her way over to his side.

"I'll help you, Star," she smiled, placing a hand on her meister's arm. "Hey, Maka, wanna play?" she asked, looking over her shoulder to address the Scythemeister.

"Sure," Maka smiled, standing to join her friends. It was nice to have returned to some form of normality. Nevertheless, there was a fragment of unease tugging at her soul. She hoped Tsubaki was right – that everything would play out as planned.

* * *

"Okay, everyone off. Nice and orderly, that's it," Kid directed the group as they stepped off of the Airship and onto the smooth black surface of the moon. The hardened blood was like polished ebony – it shone in some areas and was dull in others. The surface wasn't perfectly rounded, but textured with small craters and bumps that made the moon look as if someone had taken a pocketknife and whittled away at the surface. Beyond the black horizon was the navy sky, splattered with white stars. Earth was in the distance, the white brushstrokes of clouds morphing and flowing over the green-speckled surface.

Kid cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of his companions. "Now gather around me. This will only work if we do it right, and we have one try."

"No pressure or anything," added Soul, earning a glare from the Shinigami.

"Alright. Maka, do you have the pages?" asked Kid. Maka nodded and removed two yellowed pages from a pocket in her jacket. She presented them to Kid, who accepted and unfolded them. "I will use these pages from the Book of Eibon to create a connection, since Crona has the rest of the book and Brew in his possession. A reverse, say, of what was done to remove me from the book. We'll do this in an attempt to pull Crona out of the barrier – if we create this connection then it should be a domino effect. Maka, I want you to try and resonate with Crona's soul – this will be easier if we get help from the other side." The girl nodded in affirmation of his request. "The rest of you, stand by in case anything goes wrong." The rest of the group nodded.

"Uhm, Kid?"

"Yes, Patty?"

"I have a question."

A pause, then, "Yes, Patty?"

"What do we do when something goes 'wrong'?"

" _If_ something goes wrong, I don't know what it will be," Kid replied. "You have to be ready to take orders from me and react according to instinct."

"Okey dokey!" Patty jumped a little in excitement.

"Reassuring," Soul muttered. Kid ignored him this time around.

"Alright. Maka, on my mark," the Shinigami ordered. Maka nodded and stepped forward across the opaque surface of the moon. She broke away from the group and closed her eyes, reaching out into the black. Tendrils of her soul fingered the corners of the darkness, searching. She felt three souls here. She had to locate them, and pick Crona's out – it wasn't a difficult task, but the weight of the stakes resting upon it made Maka's palms sweat. She breathed deeply and extended her wavelength even further. _Where are you?_

 _Here._ She felt the three of them – Crona, Asura, Ragnarok. They were in a kind of stasis, not moving or feeling. They were still. A wave of panic washed over her. _What's wrong? What's happening? How am I going to resonate with him?_

"Maka!" she heard Kid's voice on the edge of her consciousness. "Now!"

Maka's heart fluttered as she reached into Crona's soul and sent herself in through her wavelength. Her thoughts, her feelings, her memories – anything to wake it up, to jolt it into life. _Crona..._ She sent all of herself through. Crona's wavelength was similar enough to her own that she should be able to wake it up. But there was nothing.

"Maka, what's wrong?"

"Maka!"

"Shh, leave her alone."

"But Soul!"

"She's concentrating, leave her alone."

 _Please respond. Please._ Maka felt a tear trace down her cheek. "Please," she whispered aloud. _I came back for you. Please respond. Please come back to me._ And she felt it – the smallest twinge of recognition from Crona's soul. _That's it, come on! You need to help._ The response grew stronger and Maka sighed in relief.

"Okay, Kid," she said. "Connection established. Go ahead." She poured herself in in an attempt to strengthen the connection, and then there was nothing once again. It snapped; she lost it. Maka stumbled backward, vision blurry, and was caught by something that she quickly identified as Soul.

"What happened?" her partner asked, concern in his voice.

"I don't know...I just lost the connection. Everything shut down. I don't know if that was supposed to happen, or..." she trailed off when she heard a sharp cry. Both Soul and Maka turned to see Kid regaining his balance after the pages were ripped from his hands. They now hung in midair, motionless, a thin glow emanating from within them. Maka watched with blurred vision as the black moon softened and the blood turned to liquid that surged upwards into the dark sky, blotting out the speckled stars. The wave of blood, after having unbalanced everyone who had been standing on the moon's surface,swept itself into a sphere, which hung in the air for a few moments as the glowing pages floated towards it.

"Uh...Kid?" Soul called to the Shinigami, not taking his eyes off of the sphere, "is this supposed to happen?"

Kid shrugged and raised his eyebrows, signaling that he had no more understanding of the situation than they did.

"Great," Soul muttered.

When the pages finally reached the blood, they were absorbed. A ripple shook the giant sphere, which slowly began to shrink as if being absorbed. So far everything was going well. A soft glow became visible as the orb decreased in size. The glow was soon identifiable as the connection between Eibon's items – soon all of the Black Blood had disappeared, and Brew, the Book of Eibon, and the loose pages floated in midair for a few moments before falling to the surface. And with them...

"Crona!" Maka called, surging to her feet and then collapsing.

"Take it easy, Maka," Soul warned his meister, placing a hand on her shoulder. Maka shrugged him off and jogged over to Crona, who was lying suspiciously still on the now yellow surface of the moon. Soul followed her, and the others trailed behind him at a distance. Maka kneeled next to her friend and noticed that his eyes were closed, his face relaxed as if in sleep. She pressed her fingers against the pulse point on his pale neck, and breathed a sigh of relief when she felt the pumping of his blood. Only as she pulled her hand away did Maka realize that her glove was in tatters and soaked with her own blood. She must have dug her nails into her palm while searching for Crona's wavelength. She brushed Crona's hair away from his eyes gently, smiled, and nodded back to her friends.

"We did it!" Patty called in excitement. Relief passed over the faces of each of Maka's friends as they processed the information. It hadn't been a waste, and everyone was still safe.

"Great. Now I don't have to be constantly thinking about boobs," Kid remarked, a tone of relief in his voice.

Soul kneeled next to Maka. "Let me take him. You look exhausted," he smirked.

"Thanks." Despite Maka's sarcastic tone, she returned his smile and stood up. Soul picked Crona up bridal style and began the walk back to the Airship, Maka following closely. Their friends were exchanging hi-fives and grinning. Kid opened the door to the passenger area of the Aeroplane and gestured for Soul and Maka to enter first; they did, and Soul laid Crona down gently across the bench next to the windows – the one previously occupied by Maka and Tsubaki. Maka sat down next to him and pulled his head up onto her lap.

"Cute," Soul smirked.

"Shut up," Maka replied in a tone that Soul had long been aware signified the approach of a Maka Chop. The scythe grinned and turned around to usher the others into the Airship. When he looked back over his shoulder at Maka, she was asleep, her head lolling to one side, with Crona in his sleeplike state, head on her lap.

"What I would give for a camera right about now," Tsubaki whispered, looking on over Soul's shoulder. "This is adorable."

"And I could hold whatever pictures you took over Maka's head as blackmail," Soul joked.

"I'm worried about them," Tsubaki admitted. "Maka's exhausted, that's clear, and I don't know what's wrong with Crona."

"We'll get Professor Stein to look at them once we get back," Liz told Tsubaki as she and her sister passed behind them to take their seats.

"And then Crona can go in his room! We made it super pretty!" squealed Patty. Soul shuddered at the memory of his experience with Interior Design.

"Yeah, that too," Liz agreed. "Don't worry, Tsubaki. We've done well this far – this plan was crazy, and still is, but we're getting there. Let's just take it one step at a time."

Tsubaki nodded in agreement as Black*Star finally boarded the plane. "What are we waiting for?" the overenthusiastic young meister asked. "Let's go home!"

* * *

 **YAY THE END. AND THEN CRONA I PROMISE. *hisses* _I proomisseeeeee..._**

 **Okay, well I'm leaving before this gets weirder.**

 **Also, we had a HUGE thunderstorm last night. There was lighting so close to my house, and the longest I counted between flashes was two seconds. It was insane, especially for where I live. I don't know why I felt the need to tell the world that. But...okay. I may incorporate that into a story or write a oneshot for it, though. Because being scared of lightning is adorable. I actually love thunder and lightning, and it scared me sometimes with how loud it got.**

 **OKAY IRRELEVANT WEATHER STORIES ASIDE,**

 **ENJOY YOUR FRIDAY AND YOUR WEEKEND. YAYS.**

 **-Squeeb100**


	3. Chapter 3

**HAHA YAY AWKWARD CHAPTER.**

 **I feel like this one is really bumpy. Im still trying to get a feel for this story and there are some parts that feel confusing, so...help.**

 **ANSWERS ARE COMING. IMMA HAFTA ASK YALL TA CALM DOWN.**

* * *

Maka had dealt with worry before – it wasn't foreign to her. She worried constantly about her mother, and her grades, and her weapon partner. Every time she sprinted headfirst into a battle anxiety gripped her heart. She worried about her friends when they went on a mission and she didn't hear from them for a few days. Worry wasn't something new.

Skipping class for more than one day, however, was. Granted, she had been excused for a week to recover, but she was upset about all of the instruction she was missing – how long would it take for her to catch up? Not to mention the boredom. It had only been two days, and she'd already finished the only book in the library's fantasy section that she hadn't already read at least twice.

So she resorted to spending what was deemed by Soul an "unhealthy amount" of time in the infirmary with Crona.

She couldn't help it; she was worried about him.

Stein hadn't been able to tell what kind of condition Crona was in – he seemed to be unconscious, but in a type of coma at the same time. The scientist's hypothesis, however, had been that the effects of the Black Blood seal were still wearing off and that the swordsman would resurface within a few days. Maka, in hopes that this was the case, had hardly moved from her friend's bedside. Soul had convinced her to come home at night, but otherwise she was sedentary. She went from her bed to the chair beside Crona's, and then to hers again, returning in the morning as soon as her partner allowed her to leave.

Maka stared at her friend – he appeared to be sleeping peacefully. She realized that she had never actually seen Crona sleep, and wondered if it was usually like this, or if his sleep was plagued with nightmares. The scythemeister didn't get to wonder for much longer, however – her trance was dissolved by a sharp rapping at the door. She looked down at the clock next to Crona's bed. It was that late already?

"Come in," Maka called. The door swung open, revealing her father, currently reminiscent of a pack mule – on one hand he balanced a tray laden with various random food items from the cafeteria (he had been force-feeding Maka ever since she had returned from the moon), and his other was occupied by a stack of books and loose-leaf sheets of paper.

"Hi, Maka! I brought you your homework, and lots of yummy food!" Spirit Albarn trilled in an overly pleasant tone, practically _prancing_ into the room. Maka felt her eye twitch just ever so slightly. Her father had been less of an object of Maka's wrath since the two had resonated on the moon (they now understood each other much better), but she still classified the spunky man as a _pain in the ass._

"Thanks, Dad," Maka smiled as Spirit set the lunch tray on her lap and the incomprehensibly tall stack of books on the floor next to her. She had to give him points for trying. "That's a lot of homework," she remarked, peering over the arm of her chair. "What's Stein been teaching in the last two days? This is insane!"

"I think he dissected a fetal pig and then gave you all worksheets about the human body."

"Because?"

"He likes dissecting," Spirit explained.

Maka looked at him in disbelief. "Oh _really._ I hadn't noticed. It's really not like that's all we learn about in his class."

"What are you supposed to be learning about?"

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure it's _not_ along the lines of 'how many headaches can Formaldehyde cause.' Because that's pretty much all we learn on any given day," Maka explained, picking a piece of fried chicken up off of the platter and biting into it. Spirit nodded in approval when he saw her chewing. They sat in silence for a few moments, Maka chewing her chicken and Spirit observing intently, until Maka broke the silence.

"Uh, Dad? Could you leave?"

Hurt flashed across Spirit's face, but he quickly regained his composure. "Oh, um...sure," he replied dejectedly, pushing his chair back into the corner and moping toward the door. Upon reaching it, he turned around with an exaggerated sigh. "Are you sure you won't be lonely?"

"I'm not," Maka replied.

"Are you _sure_?" her father pressed, leaning forward.

"I'm sure. I'm not lonely. I have all this...chicken...and pizza...stuff."

"Okay," Spirit sighed, opening the door and slowly exiting the room. "I just thought you would want someone to talk to..."

"Stop being dramatic."

"I'm not being dramatic," came the sullen reply as the man painstakingly closed the door behind him. "I just want you to let me in." The door shut with a gentle _thunk_.

"Dramatic," Maka hissed. She inwardly admitted that she felt sorry for her father, but she didn't know how to let him get close to her. She didn't trust him to not do to her what he had done so many times – to her and to other women. There was no guarantee that she wouldn't be betrayed. So she shut him out and tried to ignore him – although, she reflected, that was getting harder as each day passed since they had resonated. She had felt his soul, and, in doing that, realized his innermost feelings – his pain, his loneliness – and wondered if they had something to do with his womanizing. She had felt his love for her and his excitement as he fought with his daughter. She knew he loved her; she just didn't know how much, or for how long.

After all, he had loved her mother, too.

Sighing, Maka shook her head to clear it. It was no use thinking about that now.

What was done was done.

* * *

"Maka. Maka."

The blonde lifted her head to see the face of her irritated partner overhead. "Hi," she greeted him.

"Hi," Soul replied tersely. "Get up. You're going back to the apartment to sleep."

"Why?" came the groggy reply.

"Why? Because it's ten o' clock. Because when I came in here to get you, I found out that you fell asleep in the infirmary. Because I said so. So get up and move it."

"No. I'm staying."

"Why?"

"Because you're not the boss, and I don't want to walk all the way home. So I'm staying."

"No you're-" Soul paused, a quizzical expression reshaping his features. "Did you see that?"

Maka glared at her partner. "See what?" she asked, the irritation in her voice causing her words to come out more like a statement.

"No, I'm serious. Crona. I swear, he just...moved."

Maka stared at him blankly.

"I'm not kidding," Soul insisted. "His hand just twitched."

"Wait, are you serious?" after another moment of staring at Soul, excitement crept into Maka's tone and she whipped around to face Crona.

" _No,"_ Soul responded sarcastically. "I was totally kidding."

"Maybe he's waking up!" Maka cried incredulously, ignoring her partner's bitterness. "Should we call Stein?"

"I don't know." Soul sat down on the arm of Maka's chair. "He's probably at home with Marie. She's really close to having her baby. We should leave him alone; besides, maybe I imagined it."

"No, you didn't – all three soul wavelengths are getting stronger now. He's waking up. I really think we should call Stein."

"I don't know," the albino repeated. "Don't you think having too many people in here at once might...you know...freak him out?" Soul indicated Crona. When Maka returned the Death Glare to her partner, he faced her fearlessly. "Maka, that man scares _me_. And face it, we don't _know_ what will happen. The last time we saw Crona, he was...kinda..." he searched for the gentlest words he could possibly use, "hell-bent on destroying...everything."

"Exactly why we'd be safer with Stein here," Maka insisted. Yet another staring competition ensued, this one won by Maka.

"Fine. Fine," Soul agreed. "I'm going to Nygus's office to use her phone. Be careful." He stood up and strode to the door.

"What do you think I'm goanna do, _break_ him?"

"No," Soul replied seriously as he closed the door behind him. "I'm afraid _he_ might break _you._ I'll go fast." And with that, he left the room.

Maka sighed and rolled her eyes. She was fine, right? Just fine. It was okay. She trusted Crona. She was safe. She flinched when his nose twitched, then regained her composure and decided that she was pathetic. Very, very pathetic.

A small groan escaped Crona's lips. Yep. Definitely waking up. Maka sat as quietly as she could, waiting for her friend to rejoin the world. A few moments later, it happened with a bang.

A surge of fear exploded from within Crona's soul, causing Maka to tense. Her friend's breathing hastened as he thrashed around, throwing the hospital bed into a state of disarray. She gasped as his eyes flicked open – she tried a smile, but it did nothing to calm him.

 _He doesn't recognize me_ , she thought as he stilled, no longer thrashing but still practically gasping for air. He was terrified, and Maka had absolutely no idea what to do. So she did the only thing she could; in one swift movement, she swept him into a hug and held him there, no matter how hard he struggled, until she felt him physically relax. Then she slowly backed away and allowed him to sink back down onto the bed, breathing slowed and eyes just a bit calmer.

"You okay?" Maka asked, feeling drained. The whole ordeal had been over within moments, but it had sucked the life out of her. Crona nodded once. The movement was barely visible, but a wave of relief surged over Maka as soon as she saw it. "Good. I was worried for a second there."

"Sorry," Crona whispered hoarsely. Maka breathed once, heavily, and pulled her friend into another hug.

"Oh my God, you have no idea how worried I was," she whispered into his hair. "I'm so glad you're alright. We're okay."

"Are you crying?" The question was answered quickly by Maka's soft sniffling. Crona slowly lifted his arms and returned his friend's embrace, a bit more hesitantly. "Please don't" he whispered. Maka, swallowing, pulled away. She wiped her eyes with a sleeve and smiled through her tears.

"I won't cry any more. I'm happy, see?"

* * *

 **WHAT IS LIFE, EVEN.**

 **IS THIS AS AWKWARD TO READ AS IT WAS TO WRITE BECAUSE DAMN.**


End file.
